Question Of A Soul
by HarlequinRaven
Summary: Illyria jumps through a portal, hoping to find her way back to her world, but instead finds herself in Edward Cullen's. Oh, dear.


**Question of a Soul**_  
Illyria jumps through a portal, hoping to find her way back to her world, but instead finds herself in Edward Cullen's. Oh, dear._

**A/N:** This oneshot came to me really randomly. I was just thinking about how Edward always said he didn't have a soul, and plus I was watching Angel. So I thought, who'd be the best (and funniest) person to tell Edward about his having (or consequent not having) of a soul? Plus I wanted Edward to get his ass kicked. I was feeling anti-Edward, having just read New Moon again for fanfic writing purposes.

So, who better to dole out the ass-kicking then our favourite God-King Illyria? :)

* * *

"You never know what you've got until it's gone," Illyria said, speaking more to herself than the boy beside her, as she gazed out into the distance with eyes unseeing. She was thinking of Wesley, but Edward didn't know that.

Her mind was shielded from him, a situation that both intrigued and infuriated the bronze-haired vampire in equal measure. She was a strange-looking woman, unlike anything Edward had ever encountered in over a century of existence. For one thing... she was _blue_.

"I don't plan on letting it go," he replied. He was thinking of Bella, but then again, Illyria didn't know that.

Edward Cullen glanced at the sapphire-haired woman sitting beside him. An hour ago, they had been at each others' throats.

As it was a sunny day in Forks, Edward had been out hunting as preparation for seeing Bella. He had just caught onto the scent of a deer, when suddenly a portal of miasmic light had appeared right in front of him. _She_ had jumped out of it, and Edward had immediately viewed her as a threat. He didn't really want to admit it, but she had kicked his ass. Her strength was more than a match for his own - but during the match she had seemed strangely detached and yet intense at the same time, a combination the vampire found intriguing. She had seemed disinterested when it came to actually finishing him off, however.

"My powers..." she mused. "They were taken from me. I am... not as strong as I once was." _Why was she telling him this? _Illyria was perplexed. She should not have told this odd (but not entirely unpleasant to the eye by human standards) stranger that she had lost her powers. He could still be an enemy...

Although, she did not sense that he was evil. Or that he was planning to attack her. There _was_ something about him though... something the God-King would have to be wary of.

_Hold on a second!_ Edward thought suddenly. _You mean, she defeated me even without her full powers? _

Edward could not stop surprise and annoyance marring his features, but Illyria did not appear to either notice or care. She surveyed the area around her, before turning to Edward.

"Where is this place?" Illyria asked, realising that she hadn't even known where the portal had taken her.

"A town called Forks. In Washington State," Edward replied, automatically. "Where do you come from? I just realised, I haven't even told you my name. Nor you given me yours."

He decided the best thing to do would be to try and befriend this mysterious creature, in the hopes that she would not once again become hostile. He held out a hand for her to shake, but she merely looked at it with disdain.

"This is what my world has amounted to. You are all pathetic. Insignificant humans with the life-span of an ant, contaminating the air with your breath, and inconceivable machinery. This world was once glorious! I came out of my slumber to restore it, only to find that my army is long turned to dust! I have no Qwa'ha Xahn to guide me in this world. And Wesley..." she stopped as her thoughts turned to that human. He was not so unpleasant as the rest of his kind.

She took a deep breath, displeased by the distraction of her own thoughts, and started again, "You wish my name, human?"

Illyria abruptly stood up, looking powerful and magnificant even in her human shell and without all of her power. "I am Illyria, God-King of the Primordiam. This world was once our _toy_, our plaything. Yet now it is ruled by the filth - the humans and the half-breeds."

"You are not human," Edward stated, a little unnecessarily, but he could not think of another way to respond, which surprised him. He was disarmed, and he didn't really like the way this Illyria person... _creature_... was talking about the world, and the people in it.

"Of course not!" Illyria was outraged. "I am trapped in this... _frugal_ body. This body cannot display a quarter of the grace and power I have in my true form."

Edward drew himself up to his full height, a little indignant on behalf of his world. "I'm not exactly human either," he said. Edward didn't know why he was telling this... well, _whatever_ she was, that he was something other than merely human, but she would never guess he was a vampire.

"No..." Illyria said, leaning in closer and fixing her icy blue eyes on him. "Your scent is different. You... are one of the half-breeds." She leant back, smiling, as though asserting her power over him. Now she had ascertained his half-breed status, she was beyond certain that he posed no threat to her.

"A... half-breed?" he questioned. Edward was slightly offended. He didn't know what the word meant exactly, but the tone clearly indicated that it was meant in a derogatory fashion. She appeared to have relaxed slightly, as though thinking he could do her no harm.

"A vampire, scum of the earth, the ooze that eats itself. You terrorise the humans to sate your thirst," Illyria stated, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," Edward said, inarticulately. He didn't exactly like being referred to as 'the ooze that eats itself' or 'scum of the earth'.

"I don't drink from humans," he told Illyria, his golden eyes fixing her blue ones in an ethereal staring match.

"I see. You are like Angel and Spike. You drink the blood of animals. You have a soul."

Edward didn't know who either Angel or Spike were, but he was taken aback by her comment of a soul.

"I have a soul?" he asked. If this woman had answers...

Illyria pierced him with her icy gaze once more. "Well, give me another explaination as to why you drink from animals and do not hunt the humans."

"I... because... it's _wrong,_" he said. He had never faltered at a question before.

Illyria came closer to him and Edward stood up, bristling slightly. Something about this creature make his proverbial hackles rise.

"_Why_ is it wrong?" she asked, unblinking.

"Because... I am in love with one," he said, truthfully.

A brief emotion flashed across Illyria's face, but Edward couldn't tell what it was.

"Where does love come from?" she asked him, as patiently as she could manage, though that wasn't saying much. She couldn't believe this half-breed was so dense.

"The heart?" Edward said, tentatively.

Illyria scoffed, "Your chest muscle is of no more use than a dried up walnut."

"The... soul?" he asked, brow furrowing.

"Indeed," Illyria replied.

"Your love for this human gives you a conscience, so you do not harm humans. A half-breed is made without a conscience. They are soulless, killing machines. They do not _love_. To have a conscience as a half-breed is to have a soul."

"It's not the same thing," Edward said, crestfallen. Her reasoning could not be proven.

"Maybe not..." Illyria started. Then she shook her head.

"Anyway, whether or not your conscience is connected to your soul is insignificant."

"Then... how do you know I have a soul?" Edward asked, once again perplexed.

Illyria looked at him in utter disgust, Fred's nose wrinkling.

"Because I can smell it off you a mile away," she said, as condescendingly as if she were speaking to one of her minions.

Illyria immediately jumped off the rock she had been standing on and darted off into the forest, leaving Edward standing alone, a stunned look fixed on his perfect features.


End file.
